How to
Mac dictation shortcut and commands
Turn on Dictation in System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation. Then press the Microphone key, or the shortcut you choose there, such as pressing Fn twice. Say "new line", "comma", or "question mark" for formatting. There's no time limit; Dictation stops after 30 seconds of silence.
Turn on Dictation
- Choose Apple menu → System Settings, then click Keyboard.
- Go to Dictation and turn it on.
- Pick your language and microphone source if you have more than one.
The dictation shortcut
- Microphone key: if your keyboard has one (top row on recent Mac keyboards), press it to start and stop.
- Your Dictation shortcut: set it under System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation → Shortcut. Presets include "Press Fn (Function) Key Twice", or choose Customize.
- Menu bar: choose Edit → Start Dictation in most apps.
To stop, press the shortcut again, or simply stop talking: Dictation ends after 30 seconds without speech.
Dictation commands
With auto-punctuation, Dictation inserts commas, periods, and question marks automatically. You can still say them yourself:
| Say | You get |
|---|---|
| new line | Line break |
| new paragraph | New paragraph |
| comma | , |
| period / point / dot / full stop | . |
| question mark | ? |
| exclamation mark | ! |
| colon / semicolon | : / ; |
| quote … end quote | "…" |
| open parenthesis … close parenthesis | ( … ) |
| caps on … caps off | Capitalizes Each Word |
| all caps | NEXT WORD IN CAPITALS |
| no space on … no space off | wordswithoutspaces |
| tab key | Tab |
From Apple's "Commands for dictating text on Mac" (support.apple.com), checked November 13, 2026. Available commands vary by language.
Dictation vs Voice Control
Dictation types what you say. Voice Control is an accessibility feature for controlling the entire Mac by voice: clicking, scrolling, opening apps. When Voice Control is on, you dictate through Voice Control and standard Dictation isn't available. If your Dictation shortcut stopped working, check that Voice Control is off under System Settings → Accessibility.
What's new in macOS 27
With Apple Intelligence in macOS 27, Dictation uses an on-device model to improve spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Apple lists this for English on Macs with M3 or later and at least 12 GB of memory.
When Apple Dictation isn't enough
Apple Dictation is great for short, occasional input. People move to a dictation app when they want filler words ("um", "like") removed, a dictionary that gets names and jargon right every time, or one shortcut that behaves the same in every app.
OneMax does that and one more thing: every note is saved to a cloud notebook that groups related notes into topics and turns them into next steps. Free plan: 5,000 words a week. Transcription runs in the cloud and needs macOS 14.4 or later. See free dictation apps for Mac for other options.
Frequently asked questions
What is the dictation shortcut on Mac?
Press the Microphone key if your keyboard has one. Otherwise use the Dictation shortcut set in System Settings, Keyboard, Dictation. Options include pressing the Fn (Function) key twice, or you can choose Customize. You can also choose Edit, Start Dictation from the menu bar.
How do I add a new line when dictating on Mac?
Say "new line" for a line break or "new paragraph" to start a new paragraph.
Does Mac dictation have a time limit?
No. Apple says you can dictate text of any length without a timeout. Dictation stops automatically when no speech is detected for 30 seconds.
What is the difference between Dictation and Voice Control on Mac?
Dictation turns speech into text. Voice Control is an accessibility feature for controlling the whole Mac by voice. When Voice Control is on, you dictate through Voice Control and standard Dictation isn't available.
Also see: Mac dictation not working · Voice to text on Mac · Free dictation apps for Mac